"Toronto has a fat payroll and a roster that has not generated much interest. Rival executives believe the best the Raptors will be able to get for Evans, Calderon or Barbosa are protected draft picks. If that."

When you break it down it makes sense: Barbosa is a limited guy playing with injuries, Evans is a 4th or 5th big, Calderon has a big price tag attached, seemingly every team has expirings or trade exceptions. The only assets of any real value would be Derozan and Bargs and neither guy is going anywhere. The Raps also have no capspace to get creative and the pending lockout is making teams reluctant to take on salary, so, the options would seem to be limited. If so, I'd rather they just let Evans and others expire and see what the new CBA brings rather than trade guys for a bag of balls.

Yep the only playoff team where Calderon would be an upgrade is arguably the Hawks. And they would prob try to unload Marvin which come to think of it would be a huge upgrade over Weems. Other teams might be interested in Evans that need bigs (maybe Hornets or Blazers) and Barbosa is a big risk with his player option and injuries. Plus he's a freakin black hole.

Payroll next season will be around $40M. If the cap were to drop to $50M and you add in the two 1st round rookie deals they'll still have enough to sign an impact guy or hang on to Reggie and Wright. Jose and Andrea are eating up almost $20M/yr going forward.

The people who thought Evans (or Peja) had any trade value simply didn't understand the current economics of the league. Expiring contracts are worth almost nothing this year because the majority of the teams will have a payroll of less than $50 million this summer. Barbosa being held together by tape and chewing gum pretty much kills his trade value. And while Calderon is the best player of the three, his large contract is a no-go going into such an uncertain future.

It's too bad Barbosa isn't healthy, because he would have been a great trade chip.

If these players were worth anything they'd be producing wins on the court. So trading them for draft picks is fine, because any group of players, however bad, can go out there and lose 55 games. I say trade them all.

Payroll next season will be around $40M. If the cap were to drop to $50M and you add in the two 1st round rookie deals they'll still have enough to sign an impact guy or hang on to Reggie and Wright. Jose and Andrea are eating up almost $20M/yr going forward.

The writer forgot to mention a key tidbit. What about the TPE???

yeah, i was wondering about that myself...if you just take actual salary figures of players currently on the roster, the number is in the low 50's, so i assume that the TPE is considered part of their payroll for cap purposes (since if used, they'd be adding whatever salary to their existing payroll/cap belonged to the returning player(s)). OR, peja's contract is still counting against the overall figure. i'm really not sure how the machinations work to that level of detail.

either way, declaring their current payroll as almost $68M is a bit misleading - the players who are actually currently on the roster are, as i said, totalling a little over $50M...it's not as though they're pressing up against the lux tax in *real* dollars and have 15 W's to show for it...

TRUE LOVE - Sometimes you know it the instant you see it across the bar.

Fully agree. I've really tried to figure out HOW he does it though. Like it's amazing, he almost goes under guys. hahah
And thats also part of my defense for Bayless. Most times he IS capable of beating his man and scoring massive points on them.. we should encourage that.

yeah, i was wondering about that myself...if you just take actual salary figures of players currently on the roster, the number is in the low 50's, so i assume that the TPE is considered part of their payroll for cap purposes (since if used, they'd be adding whatever salary to their existing payroll/cap belonged to the returning player(s)). OR, peja's contract is still counting against the overall figure. i'm really not sure how the machinations work to that level of detail.

either way, declaring their current payroll as almost $68M is a bit misleading - the players who are actually currently on the roster are, as i said, totalling a little over $50M...it's not as though they're pressing up against the lux tax in *real* dollars and have 15 W's to show for it...

The TPE doesn't count against the cap until used. Right now it is like a draft pick - an asset with no value until used.

The thing to keep in mind about Peja going against the cap is before him they were at approx. $63M, now $67M. If they didn't pay him/buy him out by trading for him, they'd be paying Jack, Banks, and Andersen and they would still be on the hook for JJ next season taking the payroll from $48M to $44M.

If Barbo opts out or is traded we are down to around $36M or if Calderon is traded it would be $34M - and if both went $28M.

Personally, while both are good vets, I'd like to see one go for future flexibility.

The TPE doesn't count against the cap until used. Right now it is like a draft pick - an asset with no value until used.

Interesting analogy. Nice way to put it.
Also I think people need to remember is that the TPE expires a year after the deal was done. And unless the other team is planning to flip quickly and use it for whats its meant, they must be willing to do a some-for-none type deal, and just let it expire. With the CBA there might be some interest in the latter.

Payroll next season will be around $40M. If the cap were to drop to $50M and you add in the two 1st round rookie deals they'll still have enough to sign an impact guy or hang on to Reggie and Wright. Jose and Andrea are eating up almost $20M/yr going forward.

The writer forgot to mention a key tidbit. What about the TPE???

My point was only that MLSE is spending $67mm to get 19(?) wins. That's gotta smart.

Raptors May Not Use Bosh Trade Exception

The Raptors made sure to get some assets back in return when Chris Bosh left for Miami as a free agent last summer.

Toronto received two draft picks and a $14.5 million trade exception as part of the forward's departure.

The exception, which is now worth $12.2 million following another deal, allows the Raptors to take on that amount of extra salary in a trade under the current collective bargaining agreement.

As the Feb. 24 trade deadline approaches, the National Post writes that it will be hard for the Raptors to use the exception.

There are 10 teams with exceptions currently, while only Cleveland has one larger than Toronto.

“It’s tough to put a value on the trade exception, except to say that this year there seems to be fewer quality contracts available in the form of salary unloads because so many teams lined up to get under the [salary] cap last summer in the banner free-agent year that it was,” general manager Bryan Colangelo wrote in an email to the Post. “There are fewer [teams paying the tax] this year, as well, and most of them are contenders so [avoiding paying the tax] will be less common.

“Of course there are toxic deals available, but with good reason.”

Another reason why the Raptors are unlikely to use the exception is that they simply don't want to take on salary.

No, the TPE doesn't count until it's put to use. They bought out Peja. This is probably what you missed when you went through the numbers. Peja still counts even though he's bought out. Here is a good site:

Fully agree. I've really tried to figure out HOW he does it though. Like it's amazing, he almost goes under guys. hahah
And thats also part of my defense for Bayless. Most times he IS capable of beating his man and scoring massive points on them.. we should encourage that.

same here, im always amazed as to how he can weave his way in and out traffic and finish off the rim. the thing i dont like is once he gets the ball, you know he aint passing. and he takes the most ill-advised shots. but thats his game tho. i think having a reputation of being a reckless shooter is what allows him to fool his man into thinking he's taking a jumper but then takes that quick first step to the basket. the other problem is he's a volume scorer, needs way too many shots to get into rhythm. but if he wants to sign with the raps for the vet min id take him. he's a momentum changer and thats handy to have on your team.

im not sold on bayless yet. it seems he's more of a scorer rather than anything else. but id give him another year.

Fully agree. I've really tried to figure out HOW he does it though. Like it's amazing, he almost goes under guys. hahah
And thats also part of my defense for Bayless. Most times he IS capable of beating his man and scoring massive points on them.. we should encourage that.

My favourite part is when he does the two-step, dribbles, moves, hesitates, and then blows "underneath" around the corner, by his man and gets to the rim ahead of any help. If he was a better finisher this guy would be a star.